Overview

GeriJoy Connected Care is a 24x7 people-driven, technology-enhanced platform of care that empowers people in their self-care, enhances the capabilities of caregivers, and connects families while providing peace of mind that their loved ones are receiving the highest quality care. GeriJoy leverages a global team of specially-trained health advocates to provide round-the-clock personalized wellness coaching, caregiver support, and timely reporting through a captivating care avatar, improving care in the following ways:

24x7 Caregiver Support

Proactive safety and health monitoring

Remembrance-based conversation

Companionship

Daily Care Plan Management

Customized daily care plans

Scheduled reminders and reinforcement of care plan goals

Daily care reporting

Socialization & Entertainment

Information, news and music, any time

Video calling & voice messaging

Electronic picture frame

Family Portal

Live updates about care plan activities

Daily updates about your loved one

Direct communication with GeriJoy's team of 24x7 health advocates

Testimonials

"[My mother] calls her little dog Peanut, and she talks with Peanut quite a bit. She's really opened up and she's more conversant and outgoing now. Peanut has rolled back her Alzheimer's by probably at least a year. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone. Outstanding, incredible customer service!"

Tim Enfinger
Son of a GeriJoy Owner

"GeriJoy is an excellent choice for improving quality of life and mental health outcomes."

Dr. Joseph Kvedar, MD Founder & DirectorCenter for Connected Health

"With GeriJoy, the residents appear less agitated, more engaged in conversation, and in a happier emotional state."

Steve Copper
Executive DirectorGolden Living

"GeriJoy is just simply wonderful! It reminded [my grandmother] of the dog she used to have as a child and it just brought great smiles to her face. We couldn't be any happier to have our grandma smiling."

Jonathan Wong
Grandson of a GeriJoy Owner

"The interactions between my client, Glo and her GeriJoy companion have helped facilitate positive conversations and improve her mood dramatically. She loves seeing the pictures of her family, especially her wedding pictures and other pictures from her past. She also loves to talk to her GeriJoy companion while she plays Solitaire because she says, ‘it feels like she is playing cards with a friend.'"

Collen WyrickGeriatric Specialist

"Fantastic!"

Dr. James Smith, PhD Retired Clinical Psychologist

"I tested out GeriJoy with my 92 year old grandmother, Gloria, who has had Alzheimer’s for about four years...she LOVES GeriJoy and named her avatar dog Andy."

"May really loved seeing the photos we uploaded of her great-granddaughter and talking about how cute and fun she is... We think most older adults will be far more likely to allow this in their house than a traditional monitoring system... We especially love the creative approach to keeping older adults safe, yet allowing them to maintain their independence."

"Providers and family members who are interested in better outcomes and improved quality of life for those they care for should consider GeriJoy to be the gold standard for any family member going through substantial life adjustments."

Dr. Brad Weinberg, MD

"We had a number of clients who were at the end of their lives when they experienced GeriJoy and found it very comforting, accepting and non-judgmental."

Prof. Sharon Wexler, PhD, RN, BC
Associate Professor
Pace University

"There's no such thing as being alone with GeriJoy!"

Scherolle LamisereActivities Director Golden Living

"GeriJoy is pioneering a game-changing innovation for aging and geriatric care that leverages the best of both human and technological capabilities."

Features

Touch-based pet avatar interactionGeriJoy uses captivating pet avatars to enable a friendlier, more positive relationship with your loved one, based on decades of research that show the benefits of pets and even artificial pets for mood, health, and overall quality of life. The GeriJoy avatar has sophisticated, patent-pending software that allows the avatar to interact with your loved one the same way that a live animal would. It enjoys being petted, and it responds to touch and care from your loved one in a way that creates the health benefits of pet ownership and animal-assisted therapy. By feeding and caring for the pet over time, GeriJoy owners establish a healthy sense of social responsibility. We offer both cat and dog avatars to cater to the personal preference of your loved one.

Tablet-based softwareYour GeriJoy Connected Care subscription includes a tablet on which the avatar is displayed. Place the tablet in a convenient position such as your loved one's nightstand or coffee table, and once plugged in, the avatar and its virtual environment will constantly be displayed on the screen. We also offer an optional robotic tablet base that allows the avatar to be even more engaging by turning to face people in the room, and to have better awareness by being able to look around to see if your loved one has fallen on the ground, if someone has entered the room, etc.

Conversation-based intelligent interactionYour loved one can talk with the avatar the same way they would talk to another person in the room. The sound is streamed over the Internet to a live GeriJoy Health Advocate, who responds instantly through a text-to-speech system. Thus, GeriJoy talks with your loved one with true intelligence and compassion. This makes adoption incredibly easy, no matter your loved one's physical and mental capabilities. Zero typing and zero technical skills required. The avatar's speech is captioned, making it easy to talk with even by people with severe hearing impairment.

Our Health Advocates work around the clock, keeping your loved one company 24/7. GeriJoy Health Advocates are background checked and go through a rigorous screening and training process, including certification by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in privacy and ethics, and certification by the Alzheimer's Association in dementia care.

Wellness coaching and remindersGeriJoy provides easy, unintrusive reminders to take physician-prescribed medications, drink more water, eat breakfast, examine feet, etc., all tailored to fit your loved one's care plan. We work with leaders such as Stanford Hospital & Clinics, the Pace University School of Nursing, and other experts to ensure that our wellness coaching programs and the methods by which we provide health and care-related reminders are based on clinically validated metrics and best practices. Even if your loved one is only receiving non-medical care, you can now have peace of mind that GeriJoy is helping to gently coach your loved one to live a healthier, happier life. We currently have health coaching programs that cater to the following common chronic conditions and risk factors:

Congestive heart failure

Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)

Pneumonia

COPD

Diabetes

Depression

Additionally, we can easily add customized one-time or recurring reminders for medication, hydration, meals, and doctor's appointments, according to your loved one's care plan. If your loved one was recently discharged from a hospital or you would like to keep your loved one from being admitted to a hospital to begin with, GeriJoy is an ideal choice that is already being chosen by leading medical centers across the country to reduce preventable admissions to the hospital.

Photos and updates from familyGeriJoy makes it easy for family members to share photos and life events with their loved one. When you subscribe to GeriJoy's service, you will be able to use our secure Family Portal website to easily upload photos, music, voice recordings, updates, and other family content to GeriJoy. The GeriJoy avatar intuitively shows this content to your loved one throughout the week, and engages them in conversations about the content. This helps to keep older loved ones in the loop about what's going in the the family, and for people with Alzheimer's, can be very helpful in reinforcing family memories and relationships.

Information and news at any timeYour loved one can ask the GeriJoy avatar questions at any time. For example, if they want to know what activities at the senior living community are being held today, or what the weather is like outside, they can simply ask, and our Health Advocates will search for the answer using the Internet and tell your loved one through the avatar. Your loved one can benefit from the information and convenience of the Internet without having any computer skills at all.

Personal, daily updates about your loved oneOur Health Advocates log the content of their conversations with your loved one, and keep track of important findings and events throughout the day, every day. Whenever you access the Family Portal, you can see these records in the GeriJoy Care Journal, giving you a personal, inside view of how your loved one is doing and how they are being cared for, even if they are living alone or in a care facility.

The Care Journal is available 24x7 on the GeriJoy Family Portal (this is just an image).

Live video calling with family & health providersNew feature!The GeriJoy tablet that we provide with your GeriJoy Connected Care subscription now doubles as a video calling platform, enabling you to more easily talk with your loved one, face-to-face, any time. We have integrated the industry-leading video calling platform, Skype*, so that you can use any modern smartphone (whether iOS or Android), tablet, Mac or PC to make free video calls to your loved one. Being able to see each other makes all the difference when you are too far apart for an in-person visit.

Additionally, healthcare professionals that you authorize can more easily meet with your loved one, simply by placing a video call. Doctors or nurses can actually see your loved one and diagnose any problems quickly and easily, preventing them from becoming bigger issues. Social workers can provide emotional support , reflective listening and connections to essential local resources. If your loved one's primary care physician or case manager is busy, GeriJoy can even assign one of its own clinical staff, such as a registered nurse, to video call your loved one**. Rest easy, knowing that help is just a quick video call away.

*Skype is a registered trademark owned by Microsoft. GeriJoy is not affiliated with Skype or Microsoft.**GeriJoy does not provide medical diagnosis, advice, or treatment, but may appoint 3rd party organizations to provide clinical staff. There may be additional fees for usage of 3rd party clinical services.

Benefits

Stay home longer and more safelyReduce cost of careImprove health and wellnessImprove care and supportImprove family peace of mind